IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?

WORTH 11

Niki sat in her car, staring forlornly at what was once their home, but for the past few weeks had been Lou's. She knew she had offered to pick Louise up, but she regretted it. Why had she been so soft? She was still pissed off at Louise; still furious. But seeing her the night before, the way she had been so sad, so tired, it had cracked something in Niki's heart she never knew was able to still c***k.

Sighing, Niki unclipped her seatbelt and climbed out of her car. It felt strange walking up her own driveway as a stranger. Niki didn't lie and she didn't ignore her promises. Stomach rolling, she rang the bell and waited, chewing on the inside of her lip. There was no answer. Five minutes later, still nothing. Niki grew worried. She kept ringing the bell but Louise didn't answer. Heart thudding, Niki pulled her phone out and hit speed-dial. After a few agonizing rings, the call was answered by a muffled groan.

"Louise?" Niki asked, voice slightly cracking in worry. "Where are you?"

Another moan. "In bed," she whispered. "I'll be there in a moment."

Niki's heart sank. "Lou, is it a migraine?"

Silence. Seconds passed. "Yeah." A sigh. "I'll be there, just wait."

Niki rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare get out of bed. I know where the emergency key is. I'll be there now." Before Louise could argue Niki ended the call and swiped the key from the top of the door's archway. When her fingers curled around the key, a memory filled Niki's mind. She remembered the day they had bought the house, when Niki had decided where to keep their key.

***

"But I can't reach it!" Louise had complained, pouting.

Niki had laughed. "All the better. The short burglars won't be able to find it. And..." She had leaned down, pulling Louise closer for a slow, languid kiss. "It means you'll always keep me around and need me."

***

Niki swallowed. Why'd she have to remember that?

Louise was in the hallway, a hand plastered to the side of her face, eyes screwed shut. She was clearly trying to walk to the door but she'd stopped halfway.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Niki grumbled, sweeping Louise into her arms bridal style. Lou groaned.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I tried."

"Enough of that. I know your migraines get bad. You should never have gotten out of bed. Why didn't you call me when you woke up?" Her voice was rising with anger. "I swear, it's like you want to end up dead in a ditch somewhere." She carried Louise back into the bedroom and carefully deposited her down onto the bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin. She reached in the bedside drawer and pulled out Lou's medication for her migraines. She popped one pill out and handed it over. Louise obediently slipped it underneath her tongue.

"If that one doesn't work, take a second one," Niki ordered firmly. "And where is your phone? I need to call your office. You aren't going anywhere today."

As expected Lou's eyes flew open. She tried to move but her head must have really hurt, because she winced and dropped back down, hands pressing against her eyes.

"Don't move and don't talk, i***t," Niki told her. "Just let yourself rest for once in your goddamn life."

Louise just groaned in pain. Niki made sure that the blinds were completely shut, bathing them in utter darkness. She then left the room, closing the door softly behind her. She dialed Mel first.

"Niki?" Melina answered, voice surprised. "Is everything okay?"

"Listen, can you run the shop for today?"

"Yes of course. What's wrong?"

Niki pursed her lips. She didn't want to admit that she was caring for Louise -like an i***t- but Melina would find out from Kiara anyways, and the last thing she wanted was for Mel to be mad at her. She sighed. "Louise hava a migraine. Stress. It's a bad one. If I don't stay here and hiss at her she won't stay put long enough to recover."

Mel was silent for a long second. She chuckled. "That's sweet of you. I'll keep things running until you're back. Don't worry."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

They said their goodbyes and ended the call, but Niki wasn't quite done yet. She switched to Lou's phone and dialed Kiara. The call was answered almost immediately.

"Good morning Lou, what can I do for you?"

"It's Niki. Look, Louise is taking a sick day today and tomorrow. Maybe even a day extra. She has a bad migraine."

"Niki?!" Chaeyoung's voice was overly dramatic and shocked. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. She gets these often because of stress. Can you just make sure she has a free schedule for a few days?"

There was the sound of hurried rustled. "Yes, of course! I might not be able to stop calls to her personal cell, though. Would you be able to just divert them all to me?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Kia."

"No Niki, thank you. You don't have to do this, you know, considering. Louise is very lucky to have you."

Pain throbbed between her ribs, so Niki said goodbye and ended the call. She stood in the hallway for a long moment, counting in her head until her emotions settled down. Then she strode towards the back door, swung it open and grinned broadly when her furry babies tackled her to the ground.

***

Louise could barely think properly when the pain had started. It woke her up from a deep sleep, actually. Her dreams had been horrible, so when she'd woken with a stabbing pain behind her eyes, she wasn't surprised. She usually tried not to take her migraine pills. They put her right back to sleep and made sure that she stayed there, so she was fast asleep for hours after Niki made her take the first pill. When she woke, she wasn't really sure who or what she was. She could hear voices down the hallway, so she shakily climbed out of bed. Her mouth was dry and foul tasting and her stomach was knotted with hunger.

Her head didn't hurt so bad that she wanted to puke. It was still throbbing with pain, but it just felt more like an intense headache than a killing migraine. The light pierced her eyes, making her flinch, but she recovered quickly and padded down the hallway. She found Niki in the lounge, curled up with the dogs on the floor with her phone in her hand and a bowl of popcorn at her side. She looked lazy and relaxed. Lou's heart skipped a beat.

Niki must have sensed her, because her eyes flicked away from her phone and widened. "Louise!" She quickly turned down the volume on the TV. "Feeling better?"

Louise hobbled over and dropped down beside them. She rested her cheek on Spot's head, almost on Niki's shoulder, and sighed. "Still hurts like a f*****g b***h, but I can think again, at least."

Niki made a noise of satisfaction. "Good. I've got dinner cooking. Are you hungry?"

Louise sat up straight, ignoring the throb of pain it sent through her skull, and stared at Niki with wide eyes. "What time is it?"

Niki gave her that look that she was familiar with. "Almost eight."

Louise pressed her face into her hands. "I had a meeting this afternoon with the board of directors. We were supposed to close a deal. My father is going to kill me."

"Your father was informed that you were taking a day off to recover from an agonizing migraine," Niki snapped. "Get over it."

Louise took a breath, offended, but her words got stuck in her throat when her phone started to ring. Niki lifted a single brow of challenge as she answered.

"Good day, Louise's phone. She is currently unavailable. Can I refer you to her partner or take a message?" Louise tried to take the phone but Niki easily held herself out of reach. "Mm-mm. I'm her wife. That's correct. She's off sick today. Thank you for understanding. Have a lovely day." She dropped the phone and ended the call. "Right, that makes it call fifty-two."

Lou's heart was trying to claw out of her chest. "You..." She swallowed thickly. "You've been answering my phone all day?"

"Yep." Niki went back to scrolling on her own phone. "Most just left messages. Your father called eight times, got the same response. He isn't very impressed with me." She grinned. "But then again, when was he ever? He never did approve of you marrying me."

Louise wasn't even angry anymore. She just felt... awe. It sent anxiety through her, to think about the mess she would have once she got back to work, but Niki doing this for her... it touched her deeply. She felt tears prickle at her eyes and held them back with all her might. "It was the one thing I'm glad I stood up for," Louise admitted quietly. "Marrying you."

Niki gave her a lingering look. "Yeah, well. Thanks, I guess. And you've got the next few days off. Don't fight me or I will physically strap you to your bed, do you understand me?"

Louise wanted to argue. She had an entire corporation to run. She couldn't be in bed all day. But her head still hurt badly and her body felt weak. She hated getting migraines like this. Hated them more than anything, and if Niki was going to stick around to tend to her... Louise couldn't remember the last time Niki had done something like this for her. It felt nice.

"Fine."

Niki got up to check on the food. She dished for them and they ate together in silence. Once their food was gone Niki cleaned up, and then she stood awkwardly at the front door, hands shoved in her pockets. "Guess I should go," she said, blowing out a breath. She turned and reached for the handle, but Louise suddenly grabbed her hand.

"No!" Her cheeks flushed red. Niki looked at her in surprise. "Stay, please?"

Niki stared at her for a long moment. Probably debating. Probably thinking this was a bad idea. But then she nodded and stepped closer, and Louise was overwhelmed by the relief crashing through her. They went back to the lounge and sat down on the couch, the dogs between them. Louise took more pain meds and fell asleep quickly. She never knew that when her eyes slid shut for the night, Niki tipped her over and let her head rest on her lap, and drew a blanket around them.

When she dreamt, they were warm dreams filled with sunlight and laughter.